What roster upgrades do we need before next season?

[NYCCuse826]

Unless this is a transfer, SU needs a wide out that won't need much seasoning at this level.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Re: TE - are we giving up on Villari?

That's been the consensus since the spring game.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Three are currently three roster spots open. An older RB and adding a traditional slot WR would make the most sense

agreed that and a legit blocking/ pass catching TE as well.

 

[RF2044]

I don't see OL as a critical need at this point, given the transfers. If there is someone out there who is a starter who wants to portal in, then by all means consider it. But we added experienced players at C, G, and RT. I think we'll go 9-deep with just those three added to the experienced group we return -- and that doesn't account for any younger players making a push to crack the two-deep. So we should be better in terms of both depth and quality next season.

Which leaves the following positions:

• WR
• TE
• RB

I think we're loaded on defense. Again, if some starting-caliber option on defense pops up, you consider it. But we're loaded at DT, DE, LB, and in the secondary. So the focus in January with the remaining scholarships should be upgrading the three positions listed above [would kill to land a starting-caliber TE to the mix of Mang - Mahar - Clement].

Then you reassess after spring practice, when there will likely be a few additional scholarships that open up when people see their position in the depth chart. And then you mine the portal again, based upon that final wave of attrition.

 

[GoSU96]

agreed that and a legit blocking/ pass catching TE as well.

They just signed a 6-7 265 lb TE.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

They just signed a 6-7 265 lb TE.

yeah I loved the kid but he will be coming off the ACL, was hoping they may find a portal type with a couple years of seasoning. I have a feeling they will go easy with the freshman from Albany , probably red shirt but think he’s going to be a good one. But who knows maybe he will be ready to go

 

[RF2044]

They just signed a 6-7 265 lb TE.

Right -- but he's coming off an injury, and he and Mahar are both unproven commodities.

Maybe 1 or both of them make a big push next year, I'm just not counting on that [I've expected Mahar to be a bigger contributor, a little confused by his lack of PT].

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

NC State would be my guess
I doubt he would come here with Shrader entrenched as the starter
Dinot is not the guy to call a kid up and say "come start, the keys are yours"

They just signed a 6-7 265 lb TE.

Who is coming off a pretty serious injury that caused him to miss a whole season.

 

[SuFTW]

It's Adams. He can get behind a D

If your tailback is the guy who can get behind the D, you have a serious problem in the WR room

Are you talking about Allen, or Abdul Adams or D’Marcus Adams?

 

[texascpa]

Every single spot, if possible.

But yeah, if I had to just pick one: I’d take a WR with some jets that can play.

Would hope/assume our defense will be similar to how it’s been - good enough if you’re offense is good.

Allen looks pretty good. Shrader will hopefully take another step forward.

If I can’t pick “5 stud Olinemen” as a choice and am limited to just one OL….I think a WR would have a bigger impact.

Don't even need jets, just needs to be able to get open with good route running. Orande isn't the fastest guy out there but always seems to get open.

 

[texascpa]

I don't see OL as a critical need at this point, given the transfers. If there is someone out there who is a starter who wants to portal in, then by all means consider it. But we added experienced players at C, G, and RT. I think we'll go 9-deep with just those three added to the experienced group we return -- and that doesn't account for any younger players making a push to crack the two-deep. So we should be better in terms of both depth and quality next season.

Which leaves the following positions:

• WR
• TE
• RB

I think we're loaded on defense. Again, if some starting-caliber option on defense pops up, you consider it. But we're loaded at DT, DE, LB, and in the secondary. So the focus in January with the remaining scholarships should be upgrading the three positions listed above [would kill to land a starting-caliber TE to the mix of Mang - Mahar - Clement].

Then you reassess after spring practice, when there will likely be a few additional scholarships that open up when people see their position in the depth chart. And then you mine the portal again, based upon that final wave of attrition.

I'm a little worried about the CB's. I know we have two good transfers coming in, but Wilson gets beat constantly out there. He needs to take a big step up if he's going to be the full-time starter.

 

[OrangeDW]

Don't even need jets, just needs to be able to get open with good route running. Orande isn't the fastest guy out there but always seems to get open.

Maybe….I want jets though. Way more fun.

I want Missle Ismail. I want Brisley Estime. Someone who is a threat to house one on any given play.

 

[RF2044]

I'm a little worried about the CB's. I know we have two good transfers coming in, but Wilson gets beat constantly out there. He needs to take a big step up if he's going to be the full-time starter.

Valid. I wonder if in the modern approach to offense in college football whether players can be true lock down corners anymore.

But I agree that it will be an open competition next year, with Bellamy likely to make a strong push to start alongside the Dartmouth transfer, who accorded himself well this year as a starter.

 

[orangenauburn]

Are you talking about Allen, or Abdul Adams or D’Marcus Adams?

D'Marcus. He showed it a few times throughout the year and did so again yesterday

 

[orangeinohio]

As long as we're in wish-list mode here, I'd love to see the team a little better prepared for the inevitable onslaught of injuries.
Yeah, I know every team has to deal with them but it's a consistent issue for SU. And, yes, it's impossible to anticipate who is going to be injured and when it will happen. But there may be some things within control of Dino and the staff.

From my uneducated POV, it seems that Tony White seemed to have the defense better prepared for injuries. Backups were not as experienced or talented necessarily but they were prepared to play.
Is this something that can be better applied on offense?
I like Carlos and he's talented as hell but he looked really green when GS was unavailable. Shrader is going to be gimpy again at some point next year so I'm hoping Beck is going to have a backup better prepared.
It must be a tough decision taking away some of Shrader's practice time to give to a backup but the backup needs to be ready.

 

[RF2044]

As long as we're in wish-list mode here, I'd love to see the team a little better prepared for the inevitable onslaught of injuries.
Yeah, I know every team has to deal with them but it's a consistent issue for SU. And, yes, it's impossible to anticipate who is going to be injured and when it will happen. But there may be some things within control of Dino and the staff.

From my uneducated POV, it seems that Tony White seemed to have the defense better prepared for injuries. Backups were not as experienced or talented necessarily but they were prepared to play.
Is this something that can be better applied on offense?
I like Carlos and he's talented as hell but he looked really green when GS was unavailable. Shrader is going to be gimpy again at some point next year so I'm hoping Beck is going to have a backup better prepared.
It must be a tough decision taking away some of Shrader's practice time to give to a backup but the backup needs to be ready.

When you take it in big picture, the defense got ransacked by key injuries throughout the year. Several of our "best" players ended up missing significant time [Lockett, Thompson, Williams]. But we've built quality depth on the defensive side of the ball, so we withstood the ridiculous volume that we sustained. I'm not saying that there wasn't a dropoff, but our depth was clearly evident on the defensive side of the ball.

We don't have the same quality of depth on offense -- where we also sustained a bunch of injuries that were more notable. Need to improve there, and it appears from the transfers that the wheels are in motion at least on OL. Depth needs to improve [at the macro level] at QB, RB, and WR -- although Allen clearly had a great starting debut yesterday.

 

[money3189]

I don't see OL as a critical need at this point, given the transfers. If there is someone out there who is a starter who wants to portal in, then by all means consider it. But we added experienced players at C, G, and RT. I think we'll go 9-deep with just those three added to the experienced group we return -- and that doesn't account for any younger players making a push to crack the two-deep. So we should be better in terms of both depth and quality next season.

Which leaves the following positions:

• WR
• TE
• RB

I think we're loaded on defense. Again, if some starting-caliber option on defense pops up, you consider it. But we're loaded at DT, DE, LB, and in the secondary. So the focus in January with the remaining scholarships should be upgrading the three positions listed above [would kill to land a starting-caliber TE to the mix of Mang - Mahar - Clement].

Then you reassess after spring practice, when there will likely be a few additional scholarships that open up when people see their position in the depth chart. And then you mine the portal again, based upon that final wave of attrition.

Good points but Im thinking they may put some work into Villari at TE. He played more than anyone yesterday. Plus Im not sure if they can get a impact TE target. Maybe take a chance on a all conference FCS guy?

 

[Ozone!]

We need to develop a solid backup @ QB and not be afraid to use him if Shrader is having a bad day or is slowed by injury I believe Coach Beck will do that; my question is do we currently have those in the QB room who will create competition for that spot or do we need to use the portal?
I feel like there is talent, however we didn’t see many examples of others with the chops as we stuck with Garrett even when he was slowed by obvious injuries!

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Unless this is a transfer, SU needs a wide out that won't need much seasoning at this level.

It isn’t

 

[RF2044]

We need to develop a solid backup @ QB and not be afraid to use him if Shrader is having a bad day or is slowed by injury I believe Coach Beck will do that; my question is do we currently have those in the QB room who will create competition for that spot or do we need to use the portal?
I feel like there is talent, however we didn’t see many examples of others with the chops as we stuck with Garrett even when he was slowed by obvious injuries!

Agreed -- and I think CDRW is still that guy. Even despite the horrific performance at Pitt. When he played throughout the year prior to that game, he looked much better -- and the coaches were not afraid to let him throw the ball. Made some mistakes against Notre Dame, but also played very well considering he got inserted midway through the game.

I think a portion of the fanbase has written him off because he looked so bad against Pitt, but he was a 4-star QB for a reason. I expect him to make a big jump this offseason, and be positioned to play next year and be a two-year starter after Shrader.

 

[money3189]

D'Marcus. He showed it a few times throughout the year and did so again yesterday

I agree, I was sitting at the 30 yard line. I saw Adams seperate for the DB with no problem. Initially I thought it was a complete over throw but I saw Adams turned up another gear that I dont see from other wr's. He has that ability. They have to work deep throws and develop that chemisty. It can pay off big time.

 

[money3189]

We need to develop a solid backup @ QB and not be afraid to use him if Shrader is having a bad day or is slowed by injury I believe Coach Beck will do that; my question is do we currently have those in the QB room who will create competition for that spot or do we need to use the portal?
I feel like there is talent, however we didn’t see many examples of others with the chops as we stuck with Garrett even when he was slowed by obvious injuries!

This is probably one of the best QB rooms we had in decades. Im sure there will be lots of competiton with Beck as the QB coach/OC. They all will get better. They question is how much better? Is it enough to win the job over Shrader or force a QB change when he struggles.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This is probably one of the best QB rooms we had in decades. Im sure there will be lots of competiton with Beck as the QB coach/OC. They all will get better. They question is how much better? Is it enough to win the job over Shrader or force a QB change when he struggles.

I feel like we have to have 2 QBs ready to perform at a starter level, and the coaches have to be willing to turn to the other one when the first guy doesn't have it.

We don't have QBs that survive the season. We just don't. We compete with our main guy, but fall apart once he goes down or is hobbled. Need to plug in a healthy, high performer.

I know this is nuts and flies in the face of football conventions. If you have more than one QB, you don't have one QB, yadda yadda yadda...

We have to break out of the offense completely falling apart when our starting QB is less than 100%. In past seasons, we had no shot because the talent isn't there. Next season, I don't think that is the case. As you said, best QB room in decades. Let's use that room to be better. Can't ignore the rest of the talent in that room.

 

[PhatOrange]

After watching our season and watching some bowl games this week I think we need to go find a portal WR who can possibly make a difference. Some of the struggles are because of the guy throwing the ball but I see WR's make a lot of big time catches that our kids just don't do. Huge catches in yesterday's bowl games. Heck even Minnesota's guys made some crazy catches.

But what is the deal with Shafer scrambling and never having anyone to throw to? When you catch the right camera angle you can see our kids never seem to be scrambling with him and finding space. If he's scrambling to his right I've seen WR's to the left who are just watching the play. I don't get this at all...it seems like it should be second nature for a WR to flow with the QB and go find space. Improv is what you learn in the back yard. It's weird. Syracuse teams of past made a living on this.

 

[Cusefan69]

I feel like we have to have 2 QBs ready to perform at a starter level, and the coaches have to be willing to turn to the other one when the first guy doesn't have it.

We don't have QBs that survive the season. We just don't. We compete with our main guy, but fall apart once he goes down or is hobbled. Need to plug in a healthy, high performer.

I know this is nuts and flies in the face of football conventions. If you have more than one QB, you don't have one QB, yadda yadda yadda...

We have to break out of the offense completely falling apart when our starting QB is less than 100%. In past seasons, we had no shot because the talent isn't there. Next season, I don't think that is the case. As you said, best QB room in decades. Let's use that room to be better. Can't ignore the rest of the talent in that room.

To me it's a simple matter of getting whomever is #2 some early season reps. Doesn't need to be a ton, even clean up reps just getting the #2 acclimated to game speed, making calls, reading defenses, etc.